Shanty

What it means

A shanty is a work song of sailors on sailing ships. It served to give rhythm to shared work processes — hoisting sails, turning the capstan, pumping. Characteristic is the call-and-response form: a lead singer sings the lines, the crew answers with a constant refrain, and precisely on this call falls the shared pull or push. The kind of work thereby determines rhythm and tempo, so that different types of shanties are distinguished.

Musical use

Musically, shanties are plainly built: short melodies of limited range, clear organization, much repetition. This is no limitation but a precondition, for they were sung under physical exertion and without music. The texts are often improvised and variable; only the refrain is fixed. With the end of sailing-ship shipping, the genre lost its function and has since lived on as repertoire for choirs and in folk music — there, however, as a concert form that has only an indirect connection to the original work function.

Performance practice

Keep the tempo firm and even; a shanty lives from the pull, not from rubato. Cast the lead singer distinctly and let them really lead, with free shaping of the text, while the group holds the refrain stable. Sing forcefully but without pressing, and watch for clear pronunciation, because the text narrates. Choose a key that lies comfortably for everyone, since it is usually sung unaccompanied. Avoid exaggerated ornaments — the effect arises from simplicity and shared force.

Bear in mind that the different types belonged to different kinds of work and differ in tempo and organization: a song for hoisting sounds different from one for the capstan. Whoever takes this into account shapes more correctly than whoever sings everything the same. A distinction is made between work forms such as capstan shanties for turning the anchor winch and halyard shanties for hoisting the sails. The lead singer was called the shantyman. Since the twentieth century, shanties have been cultivated above all by choirs ashore.